Friday, May 22, 2009

לשון חלקלקות

Chassidic Yiddish speakers often distort English words in ways other than the general public. This post started out as an honest attempt to compile a list of such words, but mysteriously turned satirical. I decided to post the fun entries too, but, on a sober note, I hereby appeal to my readers to help me add more words to the list.

Copper: Bronze. Example: Offerings for the Tabernacle included gold, silver, and copper. Bronze is an alloy from the element copper, but they don’t call it the Copper Age, right?

Steam: Heating. Most places already have more efficient heating systems than steam. Alas, not the only example where we stick to the fifties.

Votes: 1) Elections 2) Polls 3) Votes. Example: When the votes closed, candidate x had a majority of votes; he won the votes.

Europe: Eastern European cemeteries. Example: Buy raffles from yeshiva x, and be the lucky winner of a trip to Europe.

Meshugener: Extremely context sensitive. It can mean anything from genius to skeptic to homeless. Examples: Where should I start?

SederHaBuses: Bus Schedule. Example: Dial (718) 782-5566. Are you guys out of your mind? You’re running a large commuter enterprise. It’s not like you charter buses to the rebbe’s wedding.

Cool-ay: Kool-Aid. Example: I had cool-ay, my neighbor had cool-ay; we all drank from the cool-ay.

Abortion: Sent off to California. Ha ha. Very funny. Until it hits you. Well, why don’t they go for the real thing? We are not Catholic, after all. Just say'n.

Speaking of secrets... yous are totally safe with me as I am old and tech challenged but don't you ever worry that the leadership of your shtetl has outsourced hacker-type detectives to discover and expose the surfers of the timeneh triafeneh internet in your midst?

Pusheter, I can't believe it, but I'm actually impressed. Since I didn't have whom to speak with on facebook today, I actually had time to read your blog. And to my astonishment, I think it's terrific. I love your first post (and several others). You need some more commentors, though, to make this an exciting place.

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About Me

I’m a Hassidic guy from Kiryas Joel, NY with too much time next to his keyboard. I’m not a professional, although I want to be. I’m not a scholar, although I should’ve been. I’m not the sociable dude to hang around with; I suck, really. I’m just a Pusheter Yid; A simple and down-to-earth Jew who doesn't know much and doesn't care to know more.